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This Week in Health & Medicine

4th August 2017

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 04: Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli smiles while speaking to the media in front of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York with members of his legal team after the jury issued a verdict, August 4, 2017 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Shkreli was found guilty on three of the eight counts involving securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Aaron van Dorn

New York office, The Lancet

This week in health and medicine news from The Lancet USA, suicide rates for teenage girls are higher than they have been in forty years, infamous “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli has been convicted of securities fraud, and the FCC has proposed $82 million dollars in fines for a North Carolina man accused of engaging in caller ID “spoofing” to sell health insurance to the poor and elderly.

Teen Suicide Rates Spike

According to a Centers for Disease Control report, suicide rates in teens have spiked dramatically since 2007. For boys, the increase is still lower than at its peak between the mid ‘80s and mid ‘90s, but for girls, that suicide rate reached a 40 year high, doubling between 2007 and 2015. Experts indicate that there likely isn’t a single contributing factor, but issues like mistaking accidental opioid overdoses for suicides and stress factors on families from the economic recession beginning in 2008 probably played a major part in the increase. (CNN)

Shkreli Convicted of Securities Fraud

Martin Shkreli, the hedge fund manager-turned-pharma company CEO was convicted of securities fraud on Friday, and could potentially be sentenced to prison for years. Shkreli, 34, rose to meteoric internet fame and opprobrium after his pharmaceutical company purchased the manufacturing license to an antiparasitic drug that many HIV and AIDS patients relied upon and immediately raised the price from $13 a pill to $750. Often referred to as a “pharma bro,” Shkreli became a touch point for concerns about out of control drug prices, not helped by his uniquely combative and unpleasant public persona. (Stat News)

FCC Proposes $82M Fine for Health Insurance Telemarketing Fraud

According to the Federal Communications Commission, in December, 2016, Phillip Roesel, a health insurance telemarketer from North Carolina, placed over 21 million robocalls targeting the elderly and poor to sell health insurance. FCC investigators confirmed that at least 82,000 of those calls were placed using fraudulent caller ID information, a violation of the Truth in Caller ID Act. The Truth in Caller ID Act calls for a fine of $10,000 per act of “spoofing,” or deliberately falsifying caller ID information in an effort to defraud or trick someone. (ABC)

Minneapolis Restricts Sale of Menthol Cigarettes

The City Council of Minneapolis, Minnesota, has passed a new ordinance restricting the sales of menthol cigarettes to liquor stores and tobacco specialty shops, after a campaign by community activists. Menthol provides cigarettes with a minty flavor and a cool sensation, which critics say contributes to younger people starting smoking. Menthol cigarettes have also been marketed to African American communities. The measure, which will take effect in August, 2018, was criticized by convenience store owners, who contend that the restrictions will hurt their business. (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Legionnaires’ Disease Increase in Michigan

Public health officials in Michigan are concerned about an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, with 73 cases identified in June and July, more than double the average number of cases from the same period between 2014 and 2016. Caused by a bacteria transmitted by moisture and water vapor, Legionnaires’ disease can be difficult to treat and fatal. A common vector hasn’t been discovered in this outbreak, but the disease is commonly associated with poorly maintained air conditioning and heating systems. (US News & World Report)

Gene Editing in Embryos

For the first time in the United States, the CRISPR gene-editing tool has been used to correct a mutation in human embryos. The test comes after a relaxing in guidelines for modifying human embryos for any but the most serious medical conditions. The results are promising, with a greater success rate than similar experiments done in China in 2015. The National Institutes of Health still bar funding for research involving genetic manipulation of human embryos, and the study was funded by Oregon Health and Science University and the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea, among others. (New York Times)

Podcasts

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